Christmas Day 25 December 2014: The Santa Suit, Nativity and Santa's Slay

Today I had the intention of watching as many Christmas movies as possible. Then several things came in between and I only managed to watch three films.

The first one is:

The Santa Suit (2010 TV Movie)
genre: drama

Kevin Sorbo as Drake Hunter symbolizes greed and is pretty evil and not well loved. Drake Hunter basically is a modern time Scrooge but even more relentless than he was. Not that he cares until Santa himself thinks is time that he needs to learn a lesson. And then slowly but surely Drake begins to see what Christmas is really about. I enjoyed this little film very much. It touches you at the right moments. Some people might find this a little melodramatic. But I think Christmas movies need to be like that. For brief moments it makes you connect to what is important and make you feel warm and good.

Next up was:

Nativity (2009)

genre: comedy, musical

Very different from what I was expecting. While the focus is on Martin Freeman as Paul Maddens, it's the kids that steal the show. For once they show the kids in all their innocence and are simply very adorable. And that is saying something because usually I am not that fond of kids in films. Here all of them are charming and funny. Nativity (2009) is a feel good Christmas through and through. Definitely one that I can recommend. Next up was:

Santa's Slay (2005)

genre: comedy, horror

The premise of Santa being a demon who lost a bet and because of that had to play good for a 1000 years is a very interesting one. Because what will happen if those 1000 years have passed. The first scene gives us a preview of what is to come and it looked very promising. However while this scene was very violent, it wasn't violent enough. With that I meant it was more like cartoon violence then actual blood and gore. And in this case it would have been a welcome addition. The comedy simply was not enough to compensate for the lack of horror and vice versa. What is left is almost like a children's tale where good battles evil. If only this story is not suited for kids at all. For a film that is quite ridiculous it takes itself far too seriously. I personally thought Santa should have been a lot more menacing and dangerous. I can't recommend this one. For me it was a waste of time.

This was all I could watch today. Maybe more tomorrow. Overall I think I enjoyed watching these. In hindsight Santa's Slay is passable if you don't expect too much. In comparison to The Santa Suit and Nativity it falls very short.